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Okay, so I did the pink variant. I also added a pupil to the shark, which I didn't think I would like, but I did. So then I went back and added one to the blue version.

But the really important thing is that the new run of the Ogo mugs arrived today. We checked the first box and they look perfect, so soon you won't have to buy the haunted ones from Ebay. Last preparations are falling into place for the store, and it will be open within a few weeks. I'll keep you informed of the progress.

New drawing Thursday - This is a zebra shark. These sharks don't get a lot of press, because they're not one of the faster, pointy, toothy ones. But of you're looking for pleasing shapes, these can't be beat. They also have equally pleasing decorations. Stripes when they're young, transitioning to spots when they're adults. But they are not blue. I did that.

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who came by my booth in San Diego - you're the reason I come down every year. Well, that and the colorful margaritas I reward myself with every night.

Anyway, I need to be better about using this Blog, so in a valiant first attempt, I'll post this.

I spent the Comic Con telling people they should always have a little bit of story in their drawings. I think that's good advice. So this year I'll try and do just that.

Now that I look at it, this girl needs some shoe laces blowing in the wind. And I need to fix her collar. I'll get on that tonight.

Oh, and in an Ogo mug update, the new batch is ordered and should be finished before the end of the month. We're setting up the store for on-line sales so as soon as the mugs arrive we can get them out. As for other things in the store, we tend to sell a lot of the stuff we bring to San Diego. But we have more Sketchbook 1X, about 15 of the Morgan mugs, and we'll start making art prints as well. More on that later.

Okay, so I tweeted about this yesterday, but I wanted to get this out on my Blog and DA as well. There were two batches of the Ogo mugs made before the Con. The first one had some rather large defects, and so a second run was ordered. This was the first, defective version.

Yikes!

The second batch was perfect, and it promptly sold out in San Diego.

I was surprised then, when an Ebay seller suddenly had more than ten Ogo mugs for sale. On closer examination of the sellers photo we saw that it was in fact, a mug from that bad batch. Note the similarity. The easiest way to tell is that the eye patch is solid black.

I had considered destroying that batch, and now, in retrospect, I really should have spent an afternoon in my driveway with a beer hat and a hammer. But now those defective mugs are out there. About a hundred of them. Curiously, in the description, this seller decided these mugs were originally sold at the 2007 Con. Why they chose that one is a mystery, as I would have to have been so bumbling that I would sell badly made mugs of my own character, but I would also have to be so clever that I could build a time machine and instead of going back to Dallas so I could wait at Dealey Plaza and yell to JFK that his shoe was untied, causing him to lean over and thus saving his life, I instead opted to travel back to San Diego to distribute coffee mugs.

Anyway, I Tweeted about the bad mugs, and magically the Ebay picture updated itself with this one -

Now, I guess it's possible this seller got busy last night and fixed the mugs with White-Out and a really small brush and then went to my kitchen and shot a new picture. But I think if you buy this mug you're still gonna get the other one. I'm not mentioning the seller or their location because, you know, finders keepers. They can sell the mugs if they want to, and anyone can buy them. Especially people who like cats with solid eye patches and black tails.

So this whole thing has prompted us to order another run of the correct mugs, and get them up on the net as soon as possible. The run will take about two to four weeks, and as soon as they arrive I'll offer them for sale. Until then, beware the Ogo mug - there may be good ones for sale that came from the San Diego Con, but batches of over ten are unlikely as we sold no more than three to any one person. So, note the picture on this Ebay page - it's the same one I shot and posted on this blog. If someone is selling the genuine article it's likely they'll shoot a picture of their own mug sitting on their own desk.